Overweight People Crash Cars

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Overweight People Crash Cars

LONDON – Here's yet another reason to lose weight – fat people are more likely to be killed or seriously injured in car accidents than thin ones, according to findings published in the New Scientist magazine on Wednesday.

Researchers in Seattle on the west coast of the United States analysed more than 26,000 people who had been involved in car crashes and found heavier people were far more at risk in crashes than their lighter counterparts.

People weighing between 100 and 119 kilograms (220 and 262 lb) were almost two-and-a-half times as likely to die in a vehicle smash as those weighing less than 60 kilograms.

By measuring the victims' body mass index, a scale which takes into account a person's height as well as weight, researchers were able to show it was obesity, not just overall body weight, which put people in danger.

No one yet knows why overweight passengers should be more at risk, the magazine said, although researchers at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center said safety authorities might consider using heavier dummies when crash-testing cars.

Crash tests normally use dummies representing standard-sized men weighing about 78 kilograms and smaller dummies for children, the magazine said.

But big dummies are not used, leading scientists to question whether car interiors provide enough protection for the larger frame.

In the U.S., car manufacturers have had to redesign air bags so they inflate to lower pressures, making them less of a danger to smaller women and children.